Volvo Gill Optimist Nationals at Pwllheli Sailing Club Day 2
by Sarah Alexander 2 Aug 2011 20:58 BST
30 July - 5 August 2011
Volvo Gill Optimist nationals day 2 © Paul Wyeth /
www.pwpictures.com
Great weather and even better racing
Pwllheli Sailing Club today (Tuesday 2nd August) witnessed some superb sail racing as over 450 sailors utilised the weather conditions on the second day of the Volvo Gill Optimist Open and National Championships. After a disappointing start to the Championships the sun made a welcome appearance mid-morning and the blue sky stayed for the day.
The wind was a fairly consistent south westerly 9 knots and the Senior and Junior fleets both completed three races each. Regatta Racing made the most of the great conditions and managed four.
In the Senior fleet, after a total of four races Arran Holman (14, Hollowell SC) currently sits at the top of an international top five ahead of USA’s William Logue (13, Riverside YC) and Spain’s Laura Calvino (14, C.n. EL Balis) who is currently the only female sailor in the Senior fleets top ten.
“The conditions out there were really nice and I had a great day sailing. The waves were nice and smooth and it was much better racing than yesterday. I found it really good out there and enjoyed the day.” Said Arran.
In the Junior fleet Max Clapp (12, Royal Southern YC) stole the show after a close battle with Spain’s Albert Gelpi (12, Nautic EL Balis) and finished the day at the top of a fleet dominated by international sailors. Albert Gelpi currently sits third overall four points behind USA’s JC Hermus (11, Bellport Bay YC) who is now in second place. Spain’s Arnau Gelpi (9, Nautic EL Balis) sits at the top of the Regatta Racing followed by Royal Bermuda Yacht Club’s Matilda Nicholls (10).
“It was a great day with some great racing. The forecast didn’t look promising this morning, we were expecting no wind and an overcast sky but we had good sailing conditions. There were nice tight races and fantastic performances. We have some talented sailors coming through, in the Junior fleet Alex Smallwood (12, Wraysbury Lake SC) showed nice sailing performance as did Hattie Rogers (11, Royal Lymington YC) and Vita Heathcote (10, Royal Lymington YC ). The Regatta Coaching showed great spirit and got some good racing in. After yesterday’s lack of racing we are now back on schedule and looking forward to some more excellent sailing.” Said Phil Taylor IOCA (UK) Sailing Secretary.
Racing is scheduled to resume tomorrow (Wednesday 3rd August) at 11.00 am. The event will see a maximum of 12 races for the Senior and Junior fleets.
For full results visit www.optimistsailing.org.uk/. All results are provisional and subject to possible protest.
For photos and race news go to www.facebook.com/volvocarssailing